BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Enough with all the WHATABOUTISM!
Stop talking and LISTEN.
Stop pointing fingers and LISTEN.
Stop justifying and LISTEN.
It is time for the world to focus on the root cause and effect of:
- social injustice,
- racial inequality,
- police profiling and police brutality.
These are issues that need to be heard. These are issues directly related to the establishment and government of our laws and the judicial system as a whole. These are the issues that must be addressed in a way that creates positive, systemic change where all people of color have the same access to the same opportunities and the same rights as their white counterparts.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
No whataboutism. Don’t get distracted. Stay focused on the specific issues of social injustice, racial inequality, police profiling and police brutality still plaguing our nation in 2021.
LISTEN.
There are four interrelated principles of social justice:
- equity (fair distribution of available resources),
- access (access to goods and services regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, etcetera),
- participation (enabled to participate in decisions that affect their lives) and
- rights (protection of individual liberties).
Social injustice occurs when any part of any of these principles are not applied to a specific group or groups of people. Social injustice continues when people of privilege fail to acknowledge the disparity of social justice and thereby fail to change the systems that keep people of color oppressed. It is social injustice that built the roadway to racial inequality within our nation.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Shhhh. Now is not the time for whataboutism. Let’s stay focused.
LISTEN.
Racial inequality is the result of hundreds of years of social injustice on every front. There is no equity in the distribution of resources. There is no equity in access to goods and services. There is no equity in participation. There is no equity of rights and protections.
Without equity there is constant struggle. Without equity there is lack. Without equity, there is abuse of power and authority. Without equity voices are not heard. Without equity our nation will deteriorate from within and implode.
George Floyd’s death by the knee of one police officer and with the assistance of three other officers, is a hideous crime that has been seen by the world. The video of this incident shows blatant abuse of power and authority by law enforcement on a black man. George Floyd’s rights and protections were stripped over a question about $20 bill. His breath and his life were taken without remorse.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
This is not the first atrocity to be done to a person of color. This is not the first life that was taken too soon. This is not the first time the issues of social injustice, racial inequality, police profiling and police brutality have been brought to the forefront of our nation. Nor will it be the last.
Change is going to come one way or another.
No whataboutism. People of color are angry. People of color are hurt. People of color are disgusted and fed up with being profiled, killed, oppressed and not listened to. People of color and their allies have spoken softly, yelled loudly and written for social justice reforms for generations. None of which seem to have been heard or taken seriously enough by our government to make changes to our Constitution and judicial system to address these issues.
LISTEN!
This is not about protests. This is not about riots. This is civil unrest caused by years of oppression. Do not allow the distractions of whataboutisms keep you from understanding the issues we are focusing on.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Psychological Musings 